Ernesto "Ernie" Madarang Maceda Sr. (March 26, 1935 – June 20, 2016) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, and columnist who served as a Senator of the Philippines from 1971 to 1972 and again from 1987 to 1998. He served as

Senate President President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ...

from 1996 to 1998.

Early life and career

Maceda was born on March 26, 1935, in

Pagsanjan Pagsanjan (pronounced ''PAG-sang-han''), officially the Municipality of Pagsanjan ( tgl, Bayan ng Pagsanjan), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 44,327 peop ...

, Laguna. Maceda earned his Associate in Arts degree, magna cum laude, in 1952, and Bachelor of Laws degree, cum laude, from the

Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic ( Jesuits) , academic ...

in 1956. He then finished Master of Laws, taxation and international law, at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each c ...

, Massachusetts, US, in 1957. At the age of 23, he was hailed as the No. 1

councilor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populated ...

in 1959. Because of his numerous achievements in the city council, Councilor Maceda was named “Outstanding Councilor of Manila".

Roles in the Marcos Cabinet

In 1966, Maceda was appointed as the Presidential Assistant on Community Development and was the youngest Cabinet Member of the Marcos administration. In 1969, he was appointed executive secretary in concurrent capacity as chairman of the Commission on Reorganization. In 1970, the Commerce and Industry portfolio was given to Maceda. In the post, he launched consumer protection programs and established trade relations with various Eastern European Social countries.

First Senate term (1971–72)

During the 1971

midterm elections Apart from general elections and by-elections, midterm election refers to a type of election where the people can elect their representatives and other subnational officeholders (e.g. governor, members of local council) in the middle of the te ...

, Maceda was only one out of three senators elected under the banner of the

Nacionalista The Nacionalista Party ( Filipino and Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; ) is the oldest political party in both the Philippines and in Southeast Asia in general. It is responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th ...

party of then-President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

. He took office on December 30, 1971. In 1972, Maceda's bill granting protection to real estate buyers on installment basis was the only bill signed into law before

Martial Law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Martia ...

was proclaimed. The bill is known as the Maceda Law. His term was supposed to have ended on December 30, 1977.

Break with Marcos, exile, and opposition leadership (1972–1986)

Maceda went into exile in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

after breaking with President Marcos over the Martial Law declaration and eventually became the adviser of Senator

Benigno Aquino Jr. Benigno "Ninoy" Simeon Aquino Jr., (; November 27, 1932 – August 21, 1983) was a Filipino politician who served as a senator of the Philippines (1967–1972) and governor of the province of Tarlac. Aquino was the husband of Corazon Aqui ...

Following Aquino's assassination, he became one of the leaders of the opposition during the 1984 Batasan Pambansa Campaign and the 1986 snap presidential election.

Second Senate term (1987–1992)

When

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People ...

was installed as

President of the Philippines The president of the Philippines ( fil, Pangulo ng Pilipinas, sometimes referred to as ''Presidente ng Pilipinas'') is the head of state, head of government and chief executive of the Philippines. The president leads the executive branch of ...

, he was appointed to head the Ministry of Natural Resources. The following year he ran for the Senate on Corazon Aquino's ticket and won. He served his second term as senator from June 30, 1987, to June 30, 1992. In January 1991, a survey organized by Senate reporters regarding the senators' overall performance was released, with Maceda receiving the most number of points. On September 16, 1991, Maceda was among the "Magnificent 12" senators who voted against the extension of the PH-US Bases Treaty.

Third Senate term (1992–1998)

During the 1992 general elections, Senator Maceda was re-elected under the Nationalist People's Coalition, which was a faction that bolted from the

Party, headed by former

Tarlac Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac ( pam, Lalawigan ning Tarlac; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Tarlac; ilo, Probinsia ti Tarlac; tgl, Lalawigan ng Tarlac; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. It ...

Governor

Danding Cojuangco Eduardo "Danding" Murphy Cojuangco Jr. (June 10, 1935 – June 16, 2020) was a Filipino businessman and politician. He was the chairman and CEO of San Miguel Corporation, the largest food and beverage corporation in the Philippines and Sou ...

. Placed sixth in the senatorial race, he took office for the third time and served from June 30, 1992, to June 30, 1998. In his third term, he served as senate president from 1996 to 1998.

Senate Presidency

On October 10, 1996, the Senate was re-organized and Maceda was installed as Senate President succeeding Neptali A. Gonzales, Sr. In November of that year, Senate President Maceda delivered a speech denouncing the PEA-Amari Scandal – calling the same as the ''"grandmother of all scams"''.PEA scandal
/ref> The PEA-Amari Scandal was a controversial deal involved the acquisition of 158 hectares of reclaimed land on Manila Bay that was to be converted into so-called Freedom Islands. The deal was forged as part of the Ramos administration's Manila Bay Master Development Plan (MBMDP). During this time, he was also nicknamed "Mr. Expose" by the Philippine Free Press.

Post-senate presidency

On January 26, 1998, he resigned as Senate President, citing loss of support by the majority of his fellow senators. Then Senator

Neptali Gonzales Neptali Alvaro Gonzales (June 10, 1923 – September 16, 2001), better known as Neptali Gonzales, Sr., was the President of the Philippine Senate from 1992 to 1993, 1995 to 1996, and 1998. Early life and career Neptali Alvaro Gonzales was b ...

, whom Maceda helped, was installed as Senate President from 1992 to 1993 and 1995 to 1996 succeeded him. Maceda became the new minority leader of the Senate. In February 1998, months before his second and last term as senator ended, Maceda ran for mayor of Manila in the 1998 presidential elections, but lost to

Lito Atienza Jose "Lito" Livioko Atienza Jr. (; born August 10, 1941) is a Filipino politician. He served as a Party-list Representative for Buhay from 2013 to 2022, and was a House Deputy Speaker from 2020 to 2022. He served as the Secretary of Environment ...

. Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, then the Assistant Minority Leader of the Senate became the acting minority leader even though he was also running for the presidency of the Philippines.

Ambassadorship (1998-2001) and later career

After his term in the Senate ended, Maceda was appointed Philippine Ambassador to the United States (1998–2001) by President

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada, (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor. He served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, the 9th vice presi ...

. In the 2004 elections, Maceda ran for senator under the

Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino The Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) (''Coalition of United Filipinos''), also known as the United Opposition, was the political multi-party electoral alliance of the dominant opposition in the Philippines during the 2004 general elec ...

of presidential candidate Fernando Poe, Jr. but lost. He ran again in the

2013 elections The following elections were occurred in the year 2013. Asia * 2013 Armenian local elections 26 May, 17 November, and 8 December 2013 * 2013 Armenian presidential election 18 February 2013 * 2013 Bangladeshi presidential election 22 April 2013 ...

, but lost his bid to return to the Senate. Maceda holds the distinction of being the only Filipino to have held 5 Cabinet positions in his lifetime. In 2007, he joined the

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila The Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (from 'University of the City of Manila', abbreviated as PLM) is a city-government-funded local university situated inside the historic walled area of Intramuros, Manila, Philippines. It was established on ...

and became one of the professors of the PLM College of Law. He wrote a thrice-weekly column for the ''Philippine Star'', entitled "Search For Truth", and hosted his own talk show "Mr. Expose" on the radio station

DZRJ-AM DZRJ (810 AM) Radyo Bandido is a radio station owned and operated by Rajah Broadcasting Network through its licensee Free Air Broadcasting Network, Inc. Its studio is located at the 2nd Floor, Ventures Building 1, General Luna St. cor. Makati ...

Personal life

Maceda became estranged from his wife Maria Azucena, popularly known as Marichu Vera-Perez of

Sampaguita Pictures Sampaguita Pictures was a Philippine film production company. It was named for the Philippine national flower, sampaguita. Though no longer functioning, the company's Sampaguita Compound remains in Quezon City. History Sampaguita Pictures was es ...

fame. His father-in-law was the great star builder and producer Dr. Jose Perez. His marriage to Ms. Vera-Perez produced five sons:

Emmanuel Immanuel ( he, עִמָּנוּאֵל, 'Īmmānū'ēl, meaning, "God is with us"; also romanized: , ; and or in Koine Greek of the New Testament) is a Hebrew name that appears in the Book of Isaiah (7:14) as a sign that God will protect the ...

, Ernesto Jr., Erwin, Edmond, and Edward. Ernesto Jr. is a former vice mayor of Manila, while Edward currently serves as the representative of the 4th district of Manila and Edmond is director of sustainability at

Enderun Colleges Enderun Colleges is a private non-sectarian undergraduate college situated at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines. It was established in 2005, then in its former campus in Wynsum Corporate Plaza in Ortigas Center. I ...

and a Sustainability Consultant to

Megaworld Corporation Megaworld Corporation () is a real-estate company in the Philippines. It is listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange Composite Index. The company develops large-scale, mixed-use, planned communities incorporating residential, commercial, educat ...

. Ernesto Maceda also has ten grandchildren.

Death

Maceda died of

multiple organ failure Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) is altered organ function in an acutely ill patient requiring medical intervention to achieve homeostasis. Although Irwin and Rippe cautioned in 2005 that the use of "multiple organ failure" or "multisy ...

at St. Luke's Medical Center in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was fou ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

on the night of June 20, 2016. He was aged 81. He was interred at the Loyola Memorial Park in

Marikina Marikina (), officially the City of Marikina ( fil, Lungsod ng Marikina), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 456,159 people. It is loca ...

on June 25, 2016.

References

External links and sources